Mobile banking is coming to Southland, with Westpac introducing a new pilot community banking van service from mid-May.

The service van, which will offer a wide range of services including opening accounts, applying for loans, pinning and issuing cards as well as general support, will spend one day each week parked up in central locations in Windsor, Winton and Te Anau.

However the service will not offer any cash transactions.

Westpac NZ Consumer Banking & Wealth spokesperson Andrew Twidle said a lot of work has gone into the pilot, with a 6-month trial already having been completed in Wairoa.

“In choosing where to run the pilot, we looked at where there was the most opportunity for a mobile service to have an impact."

"While Westpac has a strong branch presence in Southland, the widespread geography of the towns there made it a great region to trial this approach,” he said.

Westpac employees from various Southland branches will travel with the van to the different locations each week to support customers, he said.